40th Anniversary – Music Throughout the Year
Key 14 – Temperance:
The archangel Michael stands with one foot in the water and one on dry land, balancing the elements by pouring water from a jug onto the lion to his right (Leo, fire) and applying a blazing torch to the eagle on his left (Scorpio, water). Key 14 is attributed to Sagittarius, a Fire sign which is associated with the key of Ab major, and its relative minor, F minor. The keynote for Sagittarius from Esoteric Astrology is “I see the goal. I reach that goal and then I see another.” This Key is associated with the Hebrew letter Samekh, the Tent-Peg, which in the Sefer Yetzirah is attributed to the Intelligence of Probation or Trial, and with the quality of wrath. In the body, it represents the thighs.
The piece is scored for trumpet, horn, trombone, tuba, snare drum, and marimba, with an obbligato Bb clarinet. It is characterized by a driving dotted rhythm throughout almost the entire piece, suggestive of the onward drive of the Sagittarian – whose keynote is “I see the goal. I reach that goal, and then I see another.”
Dr. Curtiss Hoffman is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. He has been an IASD member since 1996, and has frequently presented papers at annual IASD conferences, often based upon his own database of dreams. He is Chair of the IASD Student Research Awards Committee.
Since the 2021 IASD Conference, I have been working on a project to produce music for each of the 78 Tarot cards derived from my dreams. The project is now complete. To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of IASD, I am offering a musical selection every month from this set, with the cards which correspond to the 12 signs of the zodiac, starting with Aquarius.
I, Curtiss Hoffman, am the copyright owner of the twelve .mp3 format musical selections from the Musical Dream Tarot (entitled Keys 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 18) which I am giving the International Association for the Study of Dreams, Inc., permission to use on its website during 2023.